"I don't represent the big oil companies. I don't represent the bigpharmaceutical companies. I don't represent the Enrons of this world.But you know what? They already have great representation in Washington.It's the rest of the people that need it." -- The text of what would havebeen Paul Wellstone's final election ad
Paul Wellstone never lost his rumple. He served as asenator in Washington for 12 years, but he never succumbed to thesenatorial make-over: the $1000 suit, the $100 tie, the manicuredhaircut. Even when Sheila got him to put on a new suit, it would bedisheveled 10 minutes later.
The rumple -- tie loosened, sleeves rolled up, hair unkempt --was the expression of this special man. Paul was, first and foremost,in motion, an inexhaustible source of energy, ideas, optimism, drive.He grabbed you with both hands, clapped you on the back, hugged you,reached for you, argued about what you wrote, talked about what he wasthinking. Shirts wouldn't stay tucked, suits wouldn't stay pressed amidall the commotion.
Paul was an organizer, a mentor, a mobilizer. When he taught atCarleton, he was more activist than academic, taking his students topicket lines and sit-ins, exposing them to real life struggles. As aSenator, he was more tribune than legislator. He gave voice, as Sen.Barbara Boxer put it, to those who had no voice. He loved to joinrallies and demonstrations, to add his energy or just his presence topeople in motion.
I first met Paul in late 1987 when he was organizingMinnesota for the Jesse Jackson '88 presidential campaign. Paul tookJackson on a sweep across the Iron Range, speaking at churches, unionhalls and small state colleges. It was very cold and grey, but Paul wasdashing about without a hat, shaking hands without gloves on, bringingshy people up to meet the Reverend, excited about the prospects,exhilarated by Jackson's message and oratory. At the end of a long day,he took me back to stay overnight at his house. We talked into thenight, until I could no longer keep my eyes open. Reluctantly, he letme go to sleep, putting me on a couch in what was supposed to be a"weatherized porch" where I froze through the night.
Paul's rumple reflected his connection to the people he fought for. Hecared deeply about poor and working people, about the struggles of everyday life for poor mothers, family farmers, the afflicted, the elderly.He became their tribune in Washington, and was always accessible tothem. He didn't come from money and didn't care much about it, anoddity in the millionaires' club that is the U.S. Senate. He and Sheilalived very modestly in a little warren on Capitol Hill. His partnershipwith Sheila was the real thing, again a rarity in Washington. Hecared about his family, and agonized over the life challenges theyfaced. Perhaps that helped make him far more approachable and humanthan most in Washington politics. It's fitting that he's becoming famousfor the fact that he knew and cared about the people who served thesenators -- the guards, the restaurant workers, the cleaning people.
He and Sheila stood up for working and poor people even when he knew itwould hurt him politically. In 1996, up for reelection, Bill Clintonfaced the Gingrich assault on poor women, children and immigrants knownas "welfare reform." Clinton knew the bill was unconscionable and saidas much later. But his pollster warned him that a veto could cost himvotes, so he caved and signed the bill. Paul was up for reelectionthat year also, and knew he would be assailed for coddling "welfarequeens." But he couldn't stomach the damage the bill would do to themost vulnerable -- poor mothers and their children. The son of animmigrant, he couldn't abide the assault on the new immigrants. And hewouldn't go along with the big lie that the problem was welfare ratherthan poverty. He voted no, believing that in the end voters wouldrespect his principles, even if they disagreed with his position. Andsure enough, he went up, not down, in the polls after that vote.
Paul's rumple reflected the political promise that heuniquely represented. He loved talking to people, but hated asking formoney. He believed that mobilization could match money. In the Jacksoncampaign, he helped bring remarkably talented young organizers intoelectoral politics. They then decided to run Paul for Senate in 1990,not exactly a promising route to high office. No one gave him or them achance. But combining wit and whimsy, hustle and energy, he and hiscrew upset the incumbent, while being outspent seven to one.
That belief -- that mobilization could overcome money -- enabled Paul to remain independent. Paul will be remembered for theentrenched interests he was willing to take on -- big Pharma,agribusiness, big oil, HMOs, toxic polluters, the pirate CEOS. During thepast year, for example, the credit card companies and banks lined upmajorities of both parties for a bankruptcy bill that would enable themto collect against people even after they were forced into bankruptcy.Most of these are families whose lives have been shattered by illness,divorce or loss of a job. Paul could not fathom why wealthy CEOs likeKen Lay could shield their mansions from the people that they looted,while divorced mothers would have to compete with credit card companiesto get child support payments. He filibustered against the bill,despite pressure from Tom Daschle, his party's leader in the Senate(MBNA and other credit card companies are big employers in SouthDakota). And in part because of his efforts, it has not yet passed anotherwise-accommodating Senate.
Paul Wellstone invited us to dream, but he was not adreamer. He urged people -- particularly young people -- to get involved.He fought ceaselessly about the direction of his party and the country.When Paul considered running for president in 2000, he traveled to Iowa,announcing that he was the candidate of the "Democratic wing of theDemocratic Party." He was in open revolt against the money wing,warning that the party could not thrive compromised by the sameentrenched interests that fund Republicans. He was a small "d"democrat, a warrior for democracy. He pushed to get big money out ofpolitics, to limit the ability of lobbyists to curry favor with giftsand trips. His passion was to build a grassroots politics that wouldengage those who had lost hope or grown cynical. He worked hard tobuild a progressive infrastructure that could bring energy intopolitics. He crossed over to the House and became the only senator tojoin the Progressive Caucus. He headed up Americans for DemocraticAction. He helped found the Progressive Majority to help identify,recruit and support the next generation of Paul Wellstones. He workedwith 21st Century Democrats to put young people into campaigns acrossthe country. "Politics," he said, "is what we create by whatwe do,what we hope for and what we dare to imagine."
In the tributes to his liberalism, many have suggested thathe was a throwback, a holdout against a party that was moving more tothe "center." But in fact, his politics point the way to the party'sfuture, not its past. He understood -- long before it became apollster's trite phrase -- the importance of the "kitchen table" issuesthat his constituents talked with him about over coffee in Minnesota.He championed health care, investing in education, the minimum wage,clean air and water, holding CEOs accountable, empowering workers,Social Security and pension reform. He married the triumphant values ofthe movements of the 1960s -- on civil rights, the environment andwomen'srights -- with the lunch-pail concerns of working and poor people. Hispolitics anticipated the emerging majority for progressive reform thatDemocrats must learn to speak to.
Paul went out like he came in; with everyone clear about where he stood.Virtually every Democratic senator -- and many Republicans -- expressedreservations about the president's rush to war in Iraq. But when thevote came, Paul was the only senator in a contested race that dared todefy his political consultants and cast a "no" vote that could hurt him.He simply couldn't go along with a policy that seemed so profoundlywrong-headed on a matter of life and death. And in Minnesota, he rosein the polls after the vote, as if voters once more were rewarding himfor standing up what he believed.
For this rumpled warrior, the battle lines were clear. After the Iraqvote, www.moveon.org, a Web-based network developed during the Clintonimpeachment battles, sent out an email asking people to help PaulWellstone and a handful of House candidates in contested races who had voted"no." In 11 days, the site raised more than $1 million in small contributionsfrom across the country. People everywhere correctly saw Paul Wellstoneas their champion.
That same week, one of the many business fronts operating in thiselection - Americans for Job Security, a group that refuses toannounce where its money comes from -- announced that it would purchasemore than $1 million in ads to attack Paul Wellstone. The entrenchedbusiness interests behind the group understood correctly that he wastheir nemesis.
I will miss Paul and Sheila - their energy, their passion, theircommitment, their bedrock decency. I find it still hard to accept thatthey are gone. Even through my tears, I can see him coming backvictorious, charged up to take his passion and his politics across thecountry. Now we'll have to do that without him. But with his idealismand his energy, he has shown us just how much is possible.
Robert Borosage is co-director of the Campaign for America's Future and co-editor of The Next Agenda, published by Westview Press.
